British Labour MP Yvette Cooper has alerted police after receiving a death threat against her family.

The former cabinet minister received the sinister message on Tuesday from a Twitter account, accused her of sending pro-EU "propaganda" by email, adding: "Please stop or I will kill your kids and grandkids."

Reposting the threatening tweet to her followers, Ms Cooper - who does not actually have any grandchildren - commented: "Got this today for speaking out for Remain... This has to stop."

It is understood that the offending account was removed after the MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford reported the tweet.

She told her followers: "Police & @Twitter on case. But this is for all of us. Time to stop the hatred."

The incident comes amid an increase in security for MPs following the death of Ms Cooper's Labour colleague and fellow Yorkshire MP Jo Cox, who died after being shot and stabbed in Birstall near Leeds last Thursday.

A man has been remanded in custody after being charged with her murder.

Meanwhile, the Brexit referendum contagion appears to be spreading across the EU.

In Italy, the anti-establishment 5-Star movement has called for a referendum on the euro.

"We want a consultative referendum on the euro. The euro as it is today does not work. We either have alternative currencies or a 'Euro 2'," Luigi Di Maio, a vice-president of the lower house of parliament, said during a talk show .

Such a referendum would merely be an indication of public opinion. The party has called for two different currencies in Europe, one for the rich northern countries, another for southern countries. It won 19 of the 20 mayoral elections where it had reached the run-off stage last Sunday, including the capital Rome and the northern industrial capital of Turin.

The results dealt a significant blow to prime minister Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party (PD) and were hailed by supporters of 5-Star as a possible springboard to national government.

The movement's leader, comedian Beppe Grillo, has also called for a referendum on whether Italy should stay in the European Union.

"We are now waiting for the results of the Brexit referendum. The mere fact that a country like Great Britain is holding a referendum on whether to leave the EU signals the failure of the European Union," he said.

In France, Marine Le Pen, the Front National leader, last night also called for France to have its own referendum on the "decaying" EU.

"I would vote for Brexit, even if I think that France has a thousand more reasons to leave than the UK," she said.

Mr Cameron faces intense anger from his counterparts, who say that calling the vote has bolstered eurosceptics across the continent.